Business Information  >  SOM Class Assignments

GLB 300 - Gateway to Global Business

Assignment #1:  Company and Industry Information

Librarian: Carolyn Johnson  •  Spring 2002

In this assignment you will gather information about companies within an industry group, learn about the industry's environment, and compare the companies.

As with all business research, you will need to gather information from several different sources, evaluate which are most appropriate (current, accurate, complete), and synthesize the results from the different sources.  Note: A minimum of 5 sources must be used and cited for this assignment.
 

Citing sources.  As you work through this assignment be sure to collect the information you'll need to cite the sources you used.  For print sources the title, author/editor (if any), publisher and city are found on the title page.  The copyright date is found on the back side of the title page.  Printouts from electronic databases from the Library atrium come with the URL and date accessed printed on the margins.  See APA Citation Style and APA Business.

1.  Identify a competitor of your assigned company from the same industry group.

2.  In order to compare the two companies, gather the following information for  each company:

• company name, address of headquarters, URL (web address)
• top management team (limit to five names and titles)
• major divisions and subsidiaries (limit to five)
• foreign countries in which the company operates (limit to five)
• products and/or services (limit to five)
• four-digit SIC codes (indicate primary SIC, limit to five) and correspondingNAICS codes
• stock prices (most recent, 12 month low and high), ticker symbol, and stock exchange on which traded
• key events in company history (limit to five)
• sales and profit figures for the past 3 years  (make sure it's the same three years)

 
Use sources listed on the Business Databases page and the Company Background web pages.

3.  In order to compare the two companies, learn about the industry environment in which these companies operate, specifically:

General Environment:  the overall context in which a business organization and its industry exists; the external background conditions that encompass an industry and influence how an industry and its particular business organizations operate.  The General Environment is made up of: economic, technological, socio-cultural, political-legal, and international environments.

Economic Environment:  the condition of the economy in terms of inflation, interest rates, employment levels, e.g., factors that impact supply and demand.

Technological Environment: the methods used to convert resources to services and products; possessing or not possessing technological advances often determines if a company is competitive or not.

Socio-Cultural Environment:  the prevailing social values and customs, and the demographic characteristics of the society in which the industry and its businesses function; social customs and demographics impact taste and the marketability of products and services.

Political-Legal Environment:  the relationship between business and government and the regulation of business; political views and laws impact business vis-à-vis taxes and regulation.

International Environment:  the forces that extend beyond  national boundaries; these forces impact the number of foreign competitors for local markets, the number of foreign markets for exported goods; the availability of low cost labor forces outside the U.S.

 
Use Standard & Poor's Industry Survey and other sources listed in the Industry Information web pages.

4. Based on your understanding of the companies, their recent histories, and the industry environment, compare the companies:

• Financial performance.  Analyze the financial performance of your company and compare its performance to its industry group competitor.  Display financial information in a tables and present the financial analysis as text.

• Web presence.   What information do they contain for consumers? for investors? for e-commerce?  Is the information useful, well-organized, up-to-date for both groups?  Give examples.  How does each web site portray the company's image?  Does each web site contain marketing "hype" ?  Explain.  What kind of information does each site contain that could be used for research about the company? Five examples.

Contact Business Librarian:   Carolyn Johnson
 

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